Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Saturday, February 24
Murfreesboro, TN
6 PM
Middle Tennessee
23-5, 15-1
79
vs
54
UAB
17-12, 8-8
1
2
F
UAB
19
35
54
Middle Tennessee
40
39
79
Team Stats
UAB
MT
FG%
.360
.460
3FG%
.059
.407
FT%
.630
.714
RB
39
35
TO
16
7
STL
4
9
Game Leaders
Pts
17
FGM
5
3FGM
5
FTM
2
Pts
16
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballNo. 24 MT makes quick work of UAB at home
2/24/2018 8:54:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Four Raiders log double figures in front of 9,717 fans
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – It didn't take long for No. 24 Middle Tennessee to prove worthy of its first-ever Associated Press Top 25 ranking against UAB Saturday at the Murphy Center.
The Blue Raiders (23-5, 15-1) got to a double-digit lead early on and never looked back, taking down the Conference USA sixth-placed Blazers (17-12, 8-8) 79-54 in front of a roaring crowd of 9,717, the biggest of any game so far this season for the blue and white.
"I thought for the first 35 minutes our team had a great edge to it," Middle Tennessee head coach Kermit Davis said. "I think our team was excited about the crowd. It makes them play better – our team is good, and when you get over 9,000 people to watch our team play, we get really, really good.
"We played like a top-25 team tonight. That was good to see."
Not everything went MT's way through the first five minutes of the game, as it held just a 7-6 advantage in what looked to be shaping up as a defensive affair.
The Blue Raiders responded, though, using a 10-0 run to take its first double-digit lead with just over 12 minutes remaining in the opening half.
Seniors Giddy Potts and Nick King ignited the run with a three-pointer each. They were the leaders from the opening tip, scoring 14 and 13 in the first half, respectively, on a combined 8-of-17 shooting.
Potts, who passed Reggie Upshaw for fourth on MT's all-time scoring list in the game, finished with 17 points on a 5-of-9 night from 3-point range to go with six rebounds. King had 22 points and six rebounds, his 18th time scoring 20 or more points this season. He went into the game ranked third in C-USA and 23rd nationally averaging 21.4 per game.
"We locked in defensively," King said about the 10-0 first-half run. "We played hard, played aggressive and got rebounds, then got it to [freshman Donovan Sims] in transition, and we made smart plays."
In the second half, Potts and King handed the torch to senior Brandon Walters and junior Antwain Johnson to close the game out.
The pair scored 14 straight points for Middle Tennessee over a four-minute stretch early in the half, ballooning the lead 31 points.
Johnson had 11 points, six in the second half. Walters finished with 16 points, 14 coming after halftime, in just 14 minutes played due to early foul trouble. He also had four steals to lead the team.
"[Coach Davis and I] had a talk at halftime, and he told me to move my feet and watch my hands," Walters said of his second-half explosion. "I tried to move my feet more … and run the floor. That opens things up for the team."
While plenty of Blue Raiders found the bottom of the nets on the offensive end, they also did a stand-up job defensively in the blowout.
UAB, C-USA's second-leading field-goal shooting team going in at 48.6 percent, shot just 36 percent (18-of-50) from the floor and 6 percent from three-point land (1-of-17) while turning over the ball 16 times, compared to just seven for MT. The Blue Raiders also scored 28 points off Blazer turnovers.
"I thought our changing of defenses was good … and I thought we were just active," Davis said. "We hedged ball screens really hard and kept them off balance."
Middle Tennessee sits one game ahead of rival WKU for the top spot in the conference standings with two games left in the regular season. The Hilltoppers will travel to the Murphy Center Thursday for a 7 p.m. tipoff with the Blue Raiders a win away from clinching their second C-USA regular-season title in a row.
On Jan. 20, MT made the short drive to Bowling Green and took down its rival 66-62 behind a 28-point performance from King. It started the Blue Raiders' current 10-game winning streak.
"We just have to do all the little things off the floor – diet, sleep, take care of yourself and have a perfect week of academics," Davis said.
"It couldn't be a more fun week. It's why we all do this stuff – you have your arch rival, and I would think this place will be sold out. It will be a game the whole nation will watch … it couldn't get better for Middle Tennessee and Western Kentucky."
The Blue Raiders (23-5, 15-1) got to a double-digit lead early on and never looked back, taking down the Conference USA sixth-placed Blazers (17-12, 8-8) 79-54 in front of a roaring crowd of 9,717, the biggest of any game so far this season for the blue and white.
"I thought for the first 35 minutes our team had a great edge to it," Middle Tennessee head coach Kermit Davis said. "I think our team was excited about the crowd. It makes them play better – our team is good, and when you get over 9,000 people to watch our team play, we get really, really good.
"We played like a top-25 team tonight. That was good to see."
Not everything went MT's way through the first five minutes of the game, as it held just a 7-6 advantage in what looked to be shaping up as a defensive affair.
The Blue Raiders responded, though, using a 10-0 run to take its first double-digit lead with just over 12 minutes remaining in the opening half.
Seniors Giddy Potts and Nick King ignited the run with a three-pointer each. They were the leaders from the opening tip, scoring 14 and 13 in the first half, respectively, on a combined 8-of-17 shooting.
Potts, who passed Reggie Upshaw for fourth on MT's all-time scoring list in the game, finished with 17 points on a 5-of-9 night from 3-point range to go with six rebounds. King had 22 points and six rebounds, his 18th time scoring 20 or more points this season. He went into the game ranked third in C-USA and 23rd nationally averaging 21.4 per game.
"We locked in defensively," King said about the 10-0 first-half run. "We played hard, played aggressive and got rebounds, then got it to [freshman Donovan Sims] in transition, and we made smart plays."
In the second half, Potts and King handed the torch to senior Brandon Walters and junior Antwain Johnson to close the game out.
The pair scored 14 straight points for Middle Tennessee over a four-minute stretch early in the half, ballooning the lead 31 points.
Johnson had 11 points, six in the second half. Walters finished with 16 points, 14 coming after halftime, in just 14 minutes played due to early foul trouble. He also had four steals to lead the team.
"[Coach Davis and I] had a talk at halftime, and he told me to move my feet and watch my hands," Walters said of his second-half explosion. "I tried to move my feet more … and run the floor. That opens things up for the team."
While plenty of Blue Raiders found the bottom of the nets on the offensive end, they also did a stand-up job defensively in the blowout.
UAB, C-USA's second-leading field-goal shooting team going in at 48.6 percent, shot just 36 percent (18-of-50) from the floor and 6 percent from three-point land (1-of-17) while turning over the ball 16 times, compared to just seven for MT. The Blue Raiders also scored 28 points off Blazer turnovers.
"I thought our changing of defenses was good … and I thought we were just active," Davis said. "We hedged ball screens really hard and kept them off balance."
Middle Tennessee sits one game ahead of rival WKU for the top spot in the conference standings with two games left in the regular season. The Hilltoppers will travel to the Murphy Center Thursday for a 7 p.m. tipoff with the Blue Raiders a win away from clinching their second C-USA regular-season title in a row.
On Jan. 20, MT made the short drive to Bowling Green and took down its rival 66-62 behind a 28-point performance from King. It started the Blue Raiders' current 10-game winning streak.
"We just have to do all the little things off the floor – diet, sleep, take care of yourself and have a perfect week of academics," Davis said.
"It couldn't be a more fun week. It's why we all do this stuff – you have your arch rival, and I would think this place will be sold out. It will be a game the whole nation will watch … it couldn't get better for Middle Tennessee and Western Kentucky."
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